Have you taught or tried to teach yourself a new language?

[VespertineIconoclast]

I’m really interested in learning a new language – in both its’ spoken and written forms if possible. The only problem is that I don’t know where to start.

So, have you taught yourself a new language? What language was it? What resource(s) did you use?

[Orrex]

1. I've nearly got Etruscan figured out

But I've got nobody to talk to.

[VespertineIconoclast]

6. How did you do it?

Etruscan is an ancient language that was superceded by Latin.

[Orrex]

7. Which is why I have nobody to talk to...

[Ikonoklast]

49. Ecco Suthi Orrex.

That is why.



:P

[DarkTirade]

2. ... I used to know how to say "Your mother has a smooth forehead" in klingon...

but other than that, most of the languages I know are computer languages. :)

[VespertineIconoclast]

11. Sounds like fun.

Knowing Klingon, would probably be perfect for when you want to let off some steam. :)

[DarkTirade]

16. That's the worst possible insult in the klingon language.

I do remember a couple of other phrases, but that's it. I'm a Star Wars geek, not a trekkie. :P

[VespertineIconoclast]

36. ...

Then, I'm shocked you even acknowledge the Star Trek universe. ;)

[DarkTirade]

46. Well yeah, I mean, who else am I gonna make fun of?

:P

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Sometimes I watch Mexican soap operas on cable.

You can pick up a lot that way. Also, they are hilarious.

I once did try to learn Gaelic from a book. The attempt was not successful.

[Critters2]

12. I watch Mr. Bean in Spanish. I have no problem following the plot.

And I now know that the Spanish word for "Teddy" is "Teddy".

[Lost in CT]

55. I watch Mr. Bean in English and often have problems. LOL. nt

[VespertineIconoclast]

17. By watching the soap operas,

do you find that you only get the gist of what's going on? I have heard that learning a new language in this sort of "osmotic" way can be pretty fast.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. I turn on the closed caption feature.

That way I can read the Spanish words, which I can understand more easily than the spoken ones. It's enough for me to get the general idea of what's going on, which is usually pretty steamy.

[VespertineIconoclast]

37. ...

:spray:

:P

You're funny.

[suninvited]

4. I am trying very hard to learn Spanish

using a computer course. I am getting it down a bit, I understand it better than speak it, though. I think I am just too shy to start speaking it, and mostly afraid of sounding stupid if I say it all wrong.

[VespertineIconoclast]

19. ...a free computer course?

Anything for free is always nice for me. ;)

But seriously, how long have you been trying to learn Spanish? You shouldn't feel shy. I find people are very open to teaching/helping others learn their native language -- or least the people around me are.

[suninvited]

22. No, it wasnt free

I purchased the Visual Link course. It is really fun. Computer games. Miss a word and your ship starts sinking. It is a good course, worth the money.

I have been learning for several months now, but don't get to dedicate as much time as I would like to. I work three jobs.

My best friend is Latino, so she speaks to me in Spanish a lot. I am the secretary at a job where about 80% of our workers are Latino, and many of them speak no English at all. I am trying to learn it to be able to communicate better with the employees, but I am too shy to speak it because I am afraid they will think I am just loco (lol).

I cook at a diner on the weekends, and I can understand a food order in Spanish almost all the time now. I am proud of that !

[VespertineIconoclast]

39. I think the most important part is

that you put the effort into trying to communicate. I've found that even if I completely mangle a language the native speaker gives me the benefit of the doubt and we can kind of share a laugh about how badly I speak the language. :)

It's great that you are understanding Spanish so well!

[Chan790]

41. If you're looking for free language learning online...

try www.livemocha.com. They have several languages available for learning, all for free. (They do advertise their premium (pay) offerings for people who want an intensive program with rapid results). It works as a social networking site, a lot of peer review and teaching by native speakers. (Your exercises get sent to native speakers of the language you're learning to review and you get sent other people's English exercises to review.) You're supposed to do a lesson a week and a lot of review before doing the next lesson, but I've been knocking out German at two-a-week.

Stick to things with the similar alphabet though, rather than Arabic, Japanese, Russian or Chinese, as they don't provide any alphabet instruction...you'll be expected to be able to write and sight-interpret (though not necessarily read) in your learning language from the first lesson on.

[VespertineIconoclast]

43. Great site. Thanks!

I like the idea of social networking to learn new languages. Cool. :thumbsup:

[Critters2]

62. I use this site to maintain my French skills, since I never use it otherwise:

http://french.about.com/library/bl-lessonoftheday.htm

[VespertineIconoclast]

70. Thanks.

Having the discipline to continue a regimen so that you don't lose what you've already gained is so important.

[bikebloke]

72. Sometimes their directions aren't clear.

I've had to play around to see what they wanted me to do. When I finally reached an exercise that went to other people, it was corrected by a Hitler. Frustration followed. So I waited until my trip to Argentina, then picked up bits the old fashioned osmosis way. Though when I was sent corrections, I explained errors and gave encouragement.

My local public library has Rosetta Stone online for free for residents.

In pre-Internet and computer days, I used a dictionary with a newspaper in the language I was trying to learn. That built up reading vocabulary.

[leftyclimber]

5. I learned Latvian through a lot of Post-It notes

on everything in my house, singing in a Latvian choir, and brute immersion at the local cultural center. Eventually I took lessons from an incredibly cool old Latvian lady whose father wrote the first Latvian-language physics textbook and spent time in a gulag for it.

Unfortunately I have little use for Latvian now, and the only thing I can remember how to say is, "Lampa ir uz galda" (the lamp is on the table). :rofl:

[VespertineIconoclast]

23. ...

:spray:

I commend your past dedication to learning Latvia. :thumbsup:

[rurallib]

8. Does cat count? My cat scratched my nose when I said something

to her the other day. Still working out the kinks.

[VespertineIconoclast]

24. Cat language is a difficult one to learn.

I have the battle scars to prove it.... ;)

[Xipe Totec]

9. I'm on my third language now - Russian

First language Spanish, second language English.

I can translate Spanish to English, or English to Spanish in real time.

So, why Russian?

For the most absurd of reasons; I fell in love with a girl named Michia, who isn't even Russian, or speaks a word of Russian.

This was my way of sublimating that love into something useful and productive.

I can read and understand it now, though slowly and clumsily.

[VespertineIconoclast]

25. That's amazing.

I would think that it would be a huge leap learning Russian since their characters are nothing like Spanish or English.

When I'm feeling fanciful, I imagine myself communicating fluently in Mandarin Chinese. But of course, I don't know the first thing about the sentence structure or even how to pronounce the Chinese characters.

[Xipe Totec]

26. Amazingly, the character set is the least problem

30 or so new symbols to remember are not much of a challenge.

The tough part is the grammar; six cases, three genders, verbs come in pairs...

"Walking into" is one verb, "Walking out of" another verb. "Waking to a place" another verb. "Just walking aimlessly" another verb.

"pencil" is one word, "to the pencil" is still one word, "with a pencil" is still one word, "of the pencil" is still one word...

English has some vestigial cases like the possessive, but nothing like Russian.

Grammar is so complex, that the easiest way to learn another language is just to listen to it, and let your unconscious brain figure it out, just like it did when you were a kid learning a language for the first time.

Learning grammars is a function built into our brain, but it is tied to our ears, not our eyes.

Written language is a much more recent innovation than language itself.

PS: Just in case you want to try it for kicks...

http://radio.echo.msk.ru:8000/listen.pls

[VespertineIconoclast]

38. Thanks for the link!

I appreciate when people share their experience and knowledge.

[conscious evolution]

52. "is just to listen to it, and let your unconscious brain figure it out,"

I can attest to that.It worked for me when I learned Italian.
The key moment for me was when I learned to distinguish the idividual words in a spoken sentence.One moment when someone was speaking a sentence it sounded like one long word-The next moment I could recognize each word distinctly.From that point it just became a matter of learning the vocabulary.

What sucks is since I moved back to the US I have forgotten probably 90% of what I learned due to lack of opportunity to speak the language on a regular basis like I had to do while living there.

[Xipe Totec]

80. I've done some research into neural networks

and come to the conclusion that consciousness is overrated.

A lot of the mind's most powerful tools are pattern recognizers at the subconscious level.

Most of the time, the conscious mind suppresses these tools; trying to understand why they work.

I call it the :wtf: syndrome.

[MineralMan]

57. Da. Pravilno.

Russian has a complex grammar...that's for sure.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. My school district didn't offer French, and I wanted to learn

My grandfather had taught French on the high school level, and I found his textbooks in my grandmother's attic. I started working through them, supplemented by language records (this was in the pre-cassette, pre-CD era). I continued studying through high school, even tried out my French on a brief stay in Paris between my junior and senior year. When I entered college, I wanted to continue studying, and I examined into second-year for my sophomore year, although the profs insisted that I sit in on the last month of first-year during my freshman year, to fix some defects in my pronunciation.

Before that trip to Europe, I knew we were going to visit relatives to Norway, so I bought the Teach Yourself Norwegian book. In those days, they didn't come with audio materials, but my dad was the son of Norwegian immigrants, so he helped me with pronunciation. By the time we went to Norway, I could carry on basic conversations with my older relatives, who went through school before English was required, and my younger relatives, who hadn't started studying it yet.

I experimented with other languages, but those were my two success stories.

I started Japanese and Chinese with formal instruction, but a lot of what I know I learned on my own.

[VespertineIconoclast]

27. That is really incredible.

Chinese and Japanese are two languages I'm very interested in learning. Your commitment to self-study and learning is something to be emulated. Have you found that you have retained some/most/all that you learned?

[barb162]

90. You must have a gift for language. Congrats!

Even with a lot of classroom training and a lot of heavy studying, it's never been something at which I excelled.

[hfojvt]

13. nein

nyet

[VespertineIconoclast]

28. :) n/t

[Critters2]

14. I think immersion programs are the way to go.

I was amazed at how much Ndau I picked up in just 3 weeks in Zimbabwe. It was fun to watch people's shocked looks when they'd thank me in Ndau, and I'd say "Your welcome" in their language. And I just picked it up by being around it all the time. Don't remember much now, but I'll bet I could learn again...if I had to.

[VespertineIconoclast]

29. I've heard similar things.

You must have had an amazing experience in Zimbabwe.

[Critters2]

44. It was a decade ago, things weren't as bad as now. It's a stunningly

beautiful country, and I found the people really kind and open. I was visiting the Ndau, in northeast Zimbabwe most of the time. But I went hiking in the Save Valley, spent two days at the Great Zimbabwe ruins, and saw Victoria Falls. I wish Mugabe was gone, so it would become a safe place to visit again.

[VespertineIconoclast]

68. I'm happy that you were able to go...

before Mugabe took over. Your experiences there sound wonderful and I hope you can visit again in the future when it's safer.

[Critters2]

78. Mugabe was in power when I was there, has been since 1980.

But he hadn't been challenged to the same degree by the opposition quite yet. He was always a little unstable, but once some viable opposition reared its head, he showed his true colors. When I was there, people joked about him, and he claimed to be a Communist but there was no sign of it in his policies or economics. Not long after, it became downright dangerous to joke about "Comrade Bob" as some called him.

One pastor I stayed with while there has been missing since his arrest last spring. Another was arrested, badly beaten, then drop in front of his church...apparently as a warning to others.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Books, tapes, and internet for Irish Gaelic. I did all right for a while but then it just got

to the point where the stuff was too hard without a human teacher working with me.

[VespertineIconoclast]

31. Have you kept with it?

I can understand wanting to have teacher. Many times the "textbook" expressions are not applicable to real life situations.

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Naw. Once I had the kids there was really no time, and we just don't live anywhere

where I could have taken a class.

I wish you luck with your plans, though. :) Certainly feels good to accomplish something like that.

[VespertineIconoclast]

40. Thanks for wishing me luck.

Organizing a schedule and sticking to it is the difficult part. But, I feel motivated to put in the needed effort. :)

[ZombieNixon]

18. I took Spanish in high school and college.

I learned some Gaelic out of CD inserts, reading about it online, and buying a pocket dictionary. It's gone to pot since I haven't worked at it for a couple of years. :( I picked up some Norwegian in similar ways. It's much easier than Gaelic, but I'm still not great at it. I learned German from being dropped off in the rural Swiss Alps for a week with a dictionary and my mother (who knew less than me). I picked up some Hindi bumbling my way around New Delhi for a bit.

I can conjugate a Proto-Indo-European verb too, not that it does me much good. :P

[VespertineIconoclast]

32. You've dabbled in some of everything.

You sound very well-traveled. :thumbsup:

[FarLeftRage]

20. Si. Io Parlei Italiano.

I am self-taught in Italian... and still learning.
I bought a few books, learn the basic pronunciations and travelled to Italy... twice.

Of course, it helps if you have family in Italy that call you weekly and talk in the Italian language.

[VespertineIconoclast]

33. It's great you get the routine practice with your Italian.

Repetition and application of learned knowledge is instrumental to storing information in your long-term memory.

[lightningandsnow]

30. I started teaching myself sign language.

When I was in middle school, I was a "reading buddy" for a deaf/hard of hearing primary class. I picked up a few of the signs from the kids there. Also, my high school has a deaf department, so I picked up some signs that way. I read a lot of sign language books a few years back, but I kind of stopped. I plan on starting again, but I think the best way to learn a language is through immersion. Most of the signs that actually stuck with me were ones I used or saw being used, not just the ones I read in a book somewhere.

[VespertineIconoclast]

35. I've always had a certain fascination with sign language.

It's one of the few languages that I retain with minimal exposure. I still remember the alphabet and few words I learned when I was a child.

[demmiblue]

42. I am trying to learn Spanish!

I have been listening to a podcast on iTunes called: "Coffee Break Spanish." It is a beginner/intermediate course focused on learning enough Spanish to get you through a visit to Spain (they do, however, give the listener some understanding/pronunciation of Latin American Spanish). They also offer a more advanced course called: "Showtime Spanish." You can purchase written/electronic materials, as well. You may also want to check out their discussion board for further help/tips. The same company/service also offers other languages, such as French.

The website: http://www.radiolingua.com/


You can also check out your public library for: the Rosetta Stone software, as well as children's books that have a different language printed on one side with the English translation on the other.


I have been trying to watch Spanish movies with subtitles, but I can only 'hear' a few words! Better some than none, I guess!


Good Luck!

[VespertineIconoclast]

45. I'll definitely try the podcast.

Thanks for the info and link.

Good luck to you too!

[XemaSab]

47. I got "Harry Potter y la Piedra FIlosifal"

It's funny what you pick up by reading a paragraph in Spanish, trying to figure it out, then reading the English translation.

Aranas, lechuzas, y serpientes.

(As I recall...)

[Zavulon]

103. The best advice I can give you is

pick out some of your favorite DVDs and put on Spanish subtitles while you're watching. You'll be amazed at how quickly certain vocabulary, even the complex and advanced stuff along with modern idioms, sink in.

Buena suerte. :)

[Heidi]

48. Yes. Total immersion is how I learn best,

so being forced to speak German, Swiss-German and Italian after I moved here is how I learned. It hasn't been easy (I don't really have a talent for learning to speak other languages) and my German, Swiss-German and Italian still aren't very good, but I can understand and make myself understood, which is more than I would ever have dreamed possible. :hi:

[VespertineIconoclast]

50. You've got some daring!

To completely throw yourself into a new and challenging situation takes guts. But, I can imagine that it is tremendously satisfying and rewarding each new thing you pick up. Good job! :thumbsup:

[dana_b]

61. very cool!

immersion does work but I didn't tay in Austria long enough to accomplish it. i know German is tough but I am still intrigued with it.

[datasuspect]

51. i know the "international language"

which is love babay

[VespertineIconoclast]

54. Good answer.

It's probably the most difficult language of them all too. :)

[Blue_Tires]

101. which means the universal language is of course...

mathematics!

[conscious evolution]

53. I have been toying with the idea of learning

a new language.
I am not sure which to choose though.Its a toss up between Chinese,Sanskrit and quantum physics.
Since I cant afford school right now I a pretty much on my own.

[VespertineIconoclast]

56. That's why I'm all about the free.

;)

Seriously though, if you're feeling motivated to learn something new it's important to get started even if it's a small start because that is usually the most difficult step.

[Zavulon]

105. Go with Chinese.

Unless you know a Sanskrit speaker, you'll hit a wall pretty quickly. Chinese speakers aren't hard to find, unless you live in an area with a low population. I studied Irish for about a year before giving up because I couldn't find a native speaker to practice with.

I've been thinking of trying Chinese myself.

[conscious evolution]

106. The thing is

is I know a Sanskrit speaker.Several actually. Wierd,huh?

I probably will go the chinese or physics route.Either would be more useful.

[bif]

58. I have a hard enough time with established languages...

let alone, new ones!

[VespertineIconoclast]

59. ...

Sometimes I feel the same way. ;)

[Iggo]

60. I tried to teach myself Swedish from a book...

...for no other reason than I had a book to learn Swedish.

Lasted about 2 weeks. Turns out there's nobody in SoCal to speak Swedish to. Who knew, right?

:rofl:

[VespertineIconoclast]

64. ...

:spray:

Gotta love that random inspiration when it comes! ;)

[Deja Q]

63. HTML, CSS, Visual Basic .NET...

:evilgrin:

[VespertineIconoclast]

66. ...to remember those days when I dabbled in computer programming and such.

Those were fun, but tedious times.... :)

[JeffR]

65. Finnish.

I don't recommend it.

[VespertineIconoclast]

67. :)

Why not?

[JeffR]

79. It's hard work!

My mom was Finnish but gradually lost her vocabulary after moving the the US, so I never had a chance to learn it growing up. I've tried two teach-yourself books and got to the point where I could read (very) simple sentences, but after months I just sort of gave up on it. My Finnish cousins correspond in very good English, so that saves me the heavy lifting.

[VespertineIconoclast]

95. You know if you still had the interest in it...

maybe you could have your cousins to teach you a little Finnish.

[sakabatou]

69. Tried a little of Japanese before I took formal classes

[VespertineIconoclast]

71. Japanese is one of my "dream" languages to learn.

I can't speak a lick of it, but some phrases and kanji I do understand. :)

It's great that you took the extra step to learn it formally. :thumbsup:

[sakabatou]

73. Thank you, subtitled anime

[VespertineIconoclast]

74. Subtitled anime is the only way to go.

The dubbed stuff...the voices just aren't "right" usually.

[sakabatou]

75. Especially with some of the older stuff

Now-a-days, the English VAs are paired up better.

[VespertineIconoclast]

76. Agreed. n/t

[wickerwoman]

77. Live Mocha is a really good website

and it's still in the beta stages so it's free.

They have software for beginner students (it's almost identical to the software you get from Rosetta Stone that costs $300 so it's worth a try if you want to see if computer assisted learning is for you.)

You can also make friends with native speakers and do language exchanges... it's a great way to hook up with people to practice with. And you can post essays and recordings of yourself and native speakers will actually comment on it for you.

I've "taught" myself German, Latin, Russian and Chinese but I'm not that fluent in any of them. More of a hobby than a serious thing.

[VespertineIconoclast]

88. Thanks for your in-depth commentary.

I think I am going to give it a try, especially since you said that the software is similar to Rosetta Stone and it's free!

[treestar]

81. Yes, I love languages

I taught myself some russian.

I tried to teach myself Arabic, and I don't get very far. Very hard language, IMO.

[Xipe Totec]

84. My boss would be impressed if I learned Arabic

He is a native Arabic speaker from the Levant region.

It's on my todo list.

Haven't decided, Mandarin first, or Arabic...

[treestar]

86. Mandarin would be even harder

With tonality.

I often wonder if it is hard for people to learn English. Its spelling is so hard. Russian spelling is great, practically phonetic.

But then I look at cases and tonality and realize that English ain't all that bad.

Spanish should be the universal language. Spelled like it sounds and no cases!

[VespertineIconoclast]

91. I'm also fascinated by languages.

I tend to pick up bits and pieces of the languages I come in contact with, but I never become fluent in them.

Good luck with your Arabic!

[conscious evolution]

82. Middle earth Common

I had forgotten this but when I was a kid I learned how to read and write the language spoken in the tolkien books using the primer found in the Lord of the Rings appendix's in Retuwn of the King.
I treid to learn the high Elven but it was too hard for me at the time.It was interesting to hear it in the P Jackson movies.

[Xipe Totec]

83. Elvish Lives! n/t

[VespertineIconoclast]

92. Wow...Elvish?

Is Elvish similar to any other language? I've always wondered how it was created. I mean did Tolkien create it himself?

[conscious evolution]

98. I think he did.

As for similarity to other language I have no idea.

[no name no slogan]

85. Only computer programming/markup languages

The key to those is repetition, repetition, repetition-- as I suppose it is with a spoken/written language.

I bought a book on how to speak Catalan, but since I don't know any Catalan speakers, it's not much use.

[Xipe Totec]

87. Computer Languages used to count as foreign languages

For graduate study applications.

I don't now if that's still the rule...

[VespertineIconoclast]

93. Repetition is the name of the game.

Something about Catalan must have called to you -- you should give it a shot and try to learn it. :)

[CatholicEdHead]

89. Working on Rosseta Stone Manderian Chinese right now

[VespertineIconoclast]

94. Excellent! How's it going?

Good luck with it!

[WCGreen]

96. I really tried to speak teenager a few years ago...

Didn't work...

[VespertineIconoclast]

99. ...

:spray:

You never know what will happen when you speak teenager. The most benign thing can get an explosive response. ;)

[Lucian]

97. Rosetta Stone is really great language learning software.

The problem is, it's too expensive. :(

[VespertineIconoclast]

100. I agree with you.

That's the reason why I'm really interested in the live mocha software that has been mentioned several times above. One poster mentioned that it's similar to Rosetta Stone and it's free! :)

here:http://www.livemocha.com/

[Blue_Tires]

102. slogging through Rosetta Stone level 2 portuguese...

it's been well worth the $$$$ so far

[Zavulon]

104. French.

I lived in Quebec for years but in an Anglophone neighborhood. My father and mother developed a real hatred for the pro-French, anti-English attitudes of the area, so refused to learn French out of spite - especially since English was already a second language for both of them. I was happy not to have to learn French as a kid because I was a lazy little fuckhead, but now I regret it. I was surrounded by native speakers who could help and never availed myself of it.

Now I'm trying to make up for lost time, but I have nobody to practice with. My vocabulary is pretty good but my speech sucks, as does my grammar.

[spinbaby]

107. I've been working on Japanese for about five years now

I still speak very bad Japanese.